MODEL CITIZEN: DAJANA ANTIC

Dajana's most recent makeup-free digitals, shot by Norman Wong. 

At five foot eleven, seventeen-year-old model Dajana Antic has that glimmer of a star before it bursts into a shooting spectacle of explosive light. Sweet-hearted as she may be, this fresh face has an innate ability to mask it with her fierce walk and impeccable stature. Less than six months ago, Dajana was merely a normal teenager like any other her age- if you put aside her ideal aesthetics for the industry and perfect model body. It wasn’t until a fateful encounter pushed young Dajana into the reputable arms of uber-agent Elmer Olsen, that it was crystalline clear: this one is the next big thing.

On Monday, February 15th, 2010, Dajana and I met up to chat about her modeling career. I would find it quite impossible to have anyone sit down with this girl and not instantly fall in love with her innocent charm and congenial personality. Fresh out of castings, Dajana told me the story of how she was discovered by Elmer Olsen.

Photos by Felix Wong

The account of their first meet is quite an intriguing one, and as Dajana proceeded to tell me the tale, I quickly learned that it was love at first height. Scouted by the super-agent at the Eaton’s Centre Mall in downtown Toronto, Dajana walked by Elmer Olsen as he was buying shoes for another model. He ran up and tapped her on the shoulder asking, “Excuse me, are you a model?” Dajana said no, an answer to which Elmer proposed the question, “Well would you like to be a model?” Brushing him aside, Dajana said no and continued to ignore him (not knowing who he was, of course!).

“I said no, and he said ‘Well would you like to be a model?’ and I said no again. I kept blowing him off and just ignoring him, thinking he could just be some random trying to scam me.”

Elmer persisted, introducing himself and trying to build rapport whilst attempting to keep up the conversation with her, explaining what tremendous potential she held. According to Elmer, it had taken Dajana seventeen days and four hours to finally give him a call, his agenda having been marking down the days. Shortly after Dajana began to work with him, Elmer had informed her that had she not called, he would have come to her school and found her.

“Actually, four days after the Eaton’s Centre, Elmer contacted one of his models, after recognizing that the school I went to was also the one she went to, so he called her to try and find me. He described me to her on the phone, and then I got a Facebook message from her saying ‘Oh, he’s amazing, he is such a great guy! You have to give it a shot and at least look into it!’”

Dajana's first test shoot, shot by Alvaro Goveia, the same photographer 

that shot Daria's first testing, launching her career into superstardom.

Dajana then began to do her homework. She decided to do an Internet search, and researched Elmer Olsen, finding a great deal to his name and that he was the one that organized Boot Camp the previous year, which Dajana had heard about many-a-time.

“I thought to myself, okay, this guy is definitely legit, and he seems really nice.”

 

She went on to tell me about how she was rejected by Elite Toronto at age fifteen, when she went in to try and pursue modeling. Naturally, they must be filled with regret when they see the increasingly overwhelming amounts of potential this young model has to offer. With similar star quality, many industry insiders say she is a baby Daria in the making, with a resemblance one cannot avoid admiring. The veteran and the rookie both possess that mystifying, entrancing aura that is so yearned for by photographers and stylists everywhere, and that is often emanated by Daria through the international pages of Vogue. When Dajana’s absolutely make-up free digitals were released into the industry, the phones began ringing off the hook begging to see more pictures of the bare-essentials beauty (photos pictured below the quote).

“From the moment I saw her, I was very taken by her presence and her perfect model body,” Elmer enthused. “It takes a lot of ingredients for a girl to get to the top, and this girl has been blessed with all of those ingredients. She has the entire makings of a top model.”

With her first two bookings being mini-runways for Valentino and Oscar De La Renta at Holt Renfrew, Dajana has had a kick-start to her career that many models can only dream of. With the perfect concoction of personality, flare, and striking good looks, Dajana is on a first-class pathway to the inevitable success in the industry. On the horizon, Dajana hopes to work with Steven Meisel and grace a cover of Vogue. In my opinion, this one is a sun that is not going to be setting anytime soon.

Dajana's first test shoot, shot by Alvaro Goveia, the same photographer 

that shot Daria's first testing, launching career into superstardom.